AUTHOR’S BIO :
An IIEST and XIMB alumnus and e-learning industry leader, Lalu manages myriad situations for a living, and writes to live life. He experiments with drama, romance, satire, psychology and mystery in his short story blog – Bohemian Ruminations. He won the Sparsh Short Story Contest, 2018 for “The Questions of Choice”. His story, “The Lounge”, was part of the Top Stories section of one of India’s leading online publishers and received rave reviews. He has been conferred the title of Literary Colonel by a leading online literary platform.
1. Who and what inspired you to write?
Since childhood, I had a fondness for the written word. However, through many years of undivided focus on making a living, the thought of writing a book had never occurred to me - until much later in life. Around five years back, I received feedback that I was losing my personal connect with my team at Tata Interactive. As one of the interventions to address this feedback, I sent a series of fortnightly emails to the team. Apart from the minimal, mundane business updates, my emails would recount random tidbits from my life that week. The anecdotes included the amusing, but happy anticlimax of my daughter’s school admission, to the (then) five-year-old’s stress about which of the two proposals should she choose as her boy-friend. These also chronicled my clumsy goof-ups during the intra-office futsal tournament and the law of the irreversible growth of the male waistline after thirty-five. These emails triggered very positive feedback on my style of storytelling.
That’s when I took to writing seriously and worked on my debut novel - The Robotmaker - a drama centred around the themes of work, family and relationships. Other than that, in the last four years, I have written more than fifteen short stories. I have published some of them in my blog - Bohemian Ruminations. My short stories have received rave reviews. One of my stories - The Questions of Choice - has won the Sparsh Short Story Competition, 2018. Another story, the Lounge, was part of the Top Stories section of one of India’s leading online publishers and received rave reviews. I have also been conferred the title of Literary Colonel by a leading online literary platform. These accolades motivated me even more and drove me to believe that I should keep writing.
The inspiration for my writing stems from a combination of reading, observation, and experiences. I don’t stick to any particular genre for reading, but have a strong bias for short stories by Roald Dahl, Maupassant, and O’Henry. I read and ‘re-read’ these stories. I love the credibility of the plots, the simplicity of the characters and the numbing twists. More recently, I have been influenced by the works of Khaled Hossaini - not so much by his style or language, but by how he uses the concept of family to stitch the plot together.
2. What challenges did you face while writing and getting published?
The biggest challenge has been to find the time to write and to make it a habit, while balancing the priorities of a high pressure day job. The Writer’s Block is another challenge that I try to beat through the combination of reading, observation and experiences. However, the challenges faced while writing the book was minuscule in comparison to what I faced in getting published. I think most debutante authors would agree with me that it is an ordeal to find a home for her/his work - especially fiction. So, I consider myself fortunate to be in the situation that I am in.
3. How did you come to know about the literary agency THE BOOK BAKERS?
In my quest to find a home for my book, I did a lot of research on publishers and agencies in India who accept first time authors. It was during this quest that I came across a few web sites and blogs that referred to The Book Bakers as an agency that accepts and encourages debutante authors.
4. How did THE BOOK BAKERS help you and what would you like to say about them ?
It is very simple. First things first - if not for The Book Bakers, the manuscript of The Robotmaker would have been lying in a folder in some obscure corner of my laptop. I had a good experience interacting with Suhail and The Book Bakers team through this journey. Suhail has been very approachable and promptly resolved any queries that I had. The agency also helps to promote their books and authors through various channels and modes. Apart from getting help on the book, these interactions have helped me better understand the dynamics of the industry. I would recommend The Book Bakers for any first-time author.
5. How supportive is your publisher of your work?
I would like to thank Locksley Hall Publishing for their trust in accepting my book. They have been very supportive so far and have promptly responded to and addressed any queries or concerns that I had. They are also helping me in promoting the book and helping with marketing material such as posters, video trailer, launch, etc.
6. How do you see literary success for yourself?
Like in any profession, I believe that the key is in going through the process and ticking the boxes. In this case, it would be important for me to continue the rigour of writing, improve on it, look for ways and means to connect with potential readers and promote the writing. Literary success would be an outcome of this process. Therefore, I may not want to define or go after literary success. Rather, I hope to follow the process with as much sincerity as possible and happily accept whatever comes my way.
7. When can we expect your next book?
I have started working on a couple of titles - both of them are genres different from The Robotmaker. I hope to narrow down on one and complete the writing by the end of this year. The book can be expected after that, and would depend on how much time I’ll take to find a home for it.
8. Any message or tips for aspiring authors?
Take the plunge; Keep writing and improving; Getting published will be tough - so, don’t get disheartened by those rejections.
BOOK NAME : THE ROBOTMAKER
PUBLISHER : LOCKSLEY HALL PUBLISHING
BOOK SYNOPSIS/BLURB :
Sid’s entrepreneurial dream drives him into the depths of despair – a tottering marriage, financial insecurity, a narrow escape from death and thirty-four days in jail. Then – the death of a colleague. He is shattered.
He seeks answers in his tragic childhood – his murdered trade unionist father – and transforms himself around his father’s ideals. This pushes him through a series of uncertain, yet intriguing experiences.
Where does this lead Sid to? Does this resurrect his life, his company? "The Robotmaker" takes the reader through Sid’s journey, to explore for themselves.
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